This application is related to and claims priority from Japanese Patent Applications No. 2000-374971 filed on Dec. 8, 2000 and No. 2000-381264 filed on Dec. 15, 2000, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a starter where a pinion is made to mesh with a ring gear of an internal combustion engine by displacing the pinion in its axial direction through a driving lever.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, an intake pipe and a catalytic converter attached to an engine have been enlarged, or accessories and the likes have been increased, due to social needs for environment (a fuel consumption regulation, an exhaust gas regulation and the like). Therefore, a mounting space of a starter has been reduced, and entire length of the starter is required to be reduced.
As shown in FIGS. 7A, 7B, it is proposed to reduce the entire length of a starter that a portion of a boss 110, which is a pivot center of a driving lever 100 driven by a magnet switch 130, and a center case 120 are lapped in an axial direction of the center case 120 (JP-Y-7-46772).
However, when the driving lever 100 is made of resin, the diameter of the boss 110 is required to be increased to some degree so as to ensure strength of the driving lever 100. As a result, distance xe2x80x9caxe2x80x9d from the peripheral surface of the center case 120 to the center of the boss 110 is increased as shown in FIG. 7B, so that the distance L1 between two axes (distance between a motor shaft and an operation center of the magnet switch 130) is necessarily increased, and the starter is enlarged in the radial direction.
On the other hand, a starter is disclosed in JP-B-2-60867 as another prior art. As shown in FIG. 8, this starter includes an elastic member 210 attached to a lever holder 200. A projection 220 provided on the elastic member 210 is inserted into a hole 230 of the lever holder 200, and it is projected to the center of a driving lever 100. A gap between a boss 110 of the driving lever 100 and the lever holder 200 is reduced by the projection 220, so that it is intended that water is prevented from entering into a magnet switch.
In this prior art, however, since a minute gap is ensured between the tip of the projection 220 and the boss 110 of the driving lever 100, water cannot be surely prevented from entering into the side of the magnet switch, so that it is still likely that water enters into the magnet switch. In the above prior art, it is described that the projection is made to come in contact with the boss 110. In this case, however, when the driving lever 100 is pivoted so as to move like a see-saw, the projection 220 is separated from the boss 110 and hits the body of the driving lever 100. Thus, it is likely that the projection 220 disturbs the driving lever 100 from being pivoted.
In view of the above problems, it is a first object of the present invention to reduce entire axial length and a radial dimension in a starter where a pinion is made to mesh with a ring gear of an internal combustion engine by displacing the pinion in an axial direction through a driving lever.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a waterproof structure which can reduce a possibility that water enters into a magnet switch without disturbing a driving lever from being pivoted.
In order to attain the first object, a starter according to the present invention includes a driving lever driven by a magnet switch and a pinion made to mesh with a ring gear of an internal combustion engine by displacing the pinion in its axial direction through the driving lever. In the starter, further, the driving lever includes a lever pin as a pivot center and a lever body for supporting both ends of the lever pin, and the lever pin is disposed outside a frame body, combined to a front housing, in a radial direction of the frame body.
Accordingly, the driving lever can be disposed while being displaced to a rear side in the axial direction of the starter by lapping the lever pin and the frame body in the axial direction, thereby reducing entire length of the starter by this displacement.
In a case that the lever pin is supported by the lever body, the diameter of the lever pin can be smaller than the outer diameter of a boss provided in the conventional resin-integrated driving lever, thereby reducing a radial dimension of the starter by this diameter difference.
In order to attain the second object, a starter according to the present invention includes a driving lever including a lever pin as a pivot center of the driving lever, a lever holder for rotatably supporting the lever pin and a rubber lever seal disposed between the lever holder and a magnet switch. In the starter, further, the lever seal includes a positioning projection, and the positioning projection passes through a positioning hole provided in the lever holder. The positioning projection protrudes to a side of the driving lever, and a tip of the positioning projection comes in contact with a peripheral surface of the lever pin at the lower side than the center of the lever pin.
Accordingly, no gap remains between the projection of the lever seal and the lever pin, so that water can be surely prevented from entering into the side of the magnet switch. Further, the tip of the projection comes in contact with the peripheral surface of the lever pin at the lower side than the center of the lever pin. Therefore, even when water hits the magnet switch from the lower side, the projection is not pushed up, and no gap remains between the lever pin and the projection, so that superior waterproof performance can be exhibited.
Furthermore, even when the driving lever is pivoted so as to move like a see-saw, the projection does not prevent the driving lever from being rotated, thereby not disturbing the pivoting of the driving lever.